The Chiss have interested me ever since his last two books, and in here we learn more about them. As ever, Zahn is in his element with the character of Mara Jade Skywalker, and having a book that concentrates mainly on just two characters (Luke and Mara) is refreshing after so many NJO books full of different characters and plotlines. Although Survivor's Quest is in some ways a detective story, it was in no way easy to guess what the ending would be.

Basically, this is probably the best Star Wars book I've read since Aaran Allston's two NJO novels, and Timothy Zahn is, as ever, brilliant.

I love the fact that the recent Star Wars non-NJO books have focused on only a few of our favourite characters. This gives the book an opportunity to really expand on their characterization, as well as explain certain changes between the old series and the New Jedi Order books. Survivor's Quest focuses exclusively on Luke and Mara, their relationship, and Mara's past. I've always enjoyed Mara, as she's one of the most dynamic new Star Wars (i.e. non-movie) character around. She's gone through massive changes since Zahn's first novel, where she wanted nothing more then to kill Luke Skywalker. Now they're married, sharing a bond that goes beyond love, a bond through the Force. When they first meet up with Commander Fel (the son of one of their old enemies) and his stormtrooper squad, memories flood her, memories of her time with the Empire. She begins to fall into old habits of command. She has a case of "survivor's guilt," as she realizes that while the Emperor was horrible, some of the Imperial policies may have actually been good. She and Luke have seen the New Republic struggle with petty wars and other conflicts among member planets, and the Imperials were efficient. Watching her thoughts is very intriguing.

The best thing about this is that Zahn doesn't push this in the reader's face by trying to explain it. Instead, the reader gets to see some of her thought processes as she handles the situations that come up during the events of the novel. Luke occasionally presses her to talk, but he's usually unsuccessful. Instead, he just has to be supportive as well as being a good teammate. Watching them work together was a real treat. We've seen it in the New Jedi Order books, but this is when it was still fresh, and it was a wonder to see.

Mara is Zahn's creation, so it's not surprising that he handles her well. The good thing is that he handles pretty much everybody else reasonably well too. This is especially true of Fel and, to a lesser extent, the stormtroopers. The troopers are individualized as far as having names goes, though they aren't given a great deal of character. One negative is that a big deal is made of one of the troopers being an alien, which would have been unheard of in the Empire's time where anti-alien prejudice was prominent. However, nothing much is made of it other then the odd mention or two. Still, the book does a good job (along with Tatooine Ghost) of making the troopers much more competent then they were in the movies. Fel is an interesting character to watch as he leads his squad in action. He's thoroughly competent and intelligent, and the best thing you can say about him is that you're not wishing for the book to go back to someone else when he's on screen.

There are some unanswered questions that bring the book down, however. There is a scene in the middle of the book where Fel and one of his troopers talk about hiding something on the Chiss ship, but it's never referred to again. After this scene, you keep expecting the Imperials to eventually do something that they never do. It was jarring. Secondly, the animosity that the Outbound Flight survivors have toward Jedi is never explained. These feelings have a major impact on the story and the result, but we are given no reason why it exists. Is it just because the Jedi failed to successfully fight off the Chiss when they attacked? If so, it seems rather harsh to be feeling that way 50 years later.

All in all, Survivor's Quest is an effective tale, full of action and great characterization of the main characters. While there are some plotting difficulties as mentioned above, it's an enjoyable read, especially for those who are getting a bit tired of The New Jedi Order. Give it a shot.

David Roy

PLEASE NOTE THAT SMALL SPOILERS MIGHT BE IN THE FOLLOWING... However, not gratifying in any way :)

Survivor's Quest is a book, where Zahn uses almost entirely characters he has added to the universe (excluding Luke), and takes place mostly in Chiss space (Thrawn's race of blue skinned, red eyed people). Mara and Luke are sent on a mission to recover a colonization ship lost during the Old Republic, before the Empire's reign. The ship is the one, which brought Jorus C'Baoth and other jedis, but something went wrong, and the chiss have now found the remains of the ship, and wants the New Republic to reclaim it as a gift for letting Thrawn shoot it down in the past.

The story is pretty much written like a detective story, with events happening, that does not bode well, and Mara and Luke trying to figure out who the baddie is. This is not Zahn's best angle I've seen, and the story is pretty boring until they reach the lost ship.

There action finally begins, but here you quickly find out that Zahn has been watching SW: Episode I and II, which I hate more than AIDS and the Plague - even though I am a SW fan. He borrows too many things from these two films in my humble opinion.
An example is two jedis trying to get through the last blastdoor to the command center of a ship with their lightsabers.. when a droideka arrives, and they are in trouble.. hmmm.. where have I seen that situation before?

The book ends with too many questions, and without the climax one expects.. and the jedis are just too powerful... "Let¨s take on a battleship fully crewed, which is expecting us, two persons... we're jedi!".

His writing is still excellent, and he uses many threads running concurrently, like he always does with grace - ending all the threads in a combined situation... However, this time it doesn't work. You sit back with the feeling, that the book is just one out of two.. Is the bad guy really gone? What really happened to the jedis? What really happened to the crew? Why did he write that book?

I'm sorry to say this, but three stars is all I can give this book. (Read his other books instead: Conqueror-series is BRILLIANT, Manta's Gift is pretty good, and his other starwars books are just perfect.. read them instead!)